New AWEA/Navigant Study on U.S. Wind Power’s Jobs and Economic Benefits: Highlights

A brand-new study by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and Navigant Consulting looks at the jobs and economic impacts resulting from U.S. wind power projects through 2020, and the results are highly encouraging. Note that AWEA and Navigant assume no change in the current Production Tax Credit (PTC) policy, and also that the Clean Power Plan “will not be implemented at the national level but that some states will proceed with similar plans for reductions in CO2 emissions.” With that, here are some highlights that jumped out at us.

Oh, and just in case you wanted even more great news about wind power, see this Bloomberg story from a bit earlier this week, which reported:

Across Europe, the price of building an offshore wind farm has fallen 46 percent in the last five years — 22 percent last year alone. Erecting turbines in the seabed now costs an average $126 for each megawatt-hour of capacity, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That’s below the $155 a megawatt-hour price for new nuclear developments in Europe and closing in on the $88 price tag on new coal plants, the London-based researcher estimates…Offshore wind projects coming online today are already delivering power at almost half the price of those finished in 2012 thanks to larger turbines and greater competition.

In sum: wind power is seeing soaring installations and plummeting prices, spurring economic activity and creating jobs wherever it goes. Not too shabby for this clean (e.g., uses no water, emits no CO2 or other air pollutants), inexhaustible power source.

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